Nightmare
by ijustwanttobeabritishman
Summary: Charles shares a nightmare with Erik, whose mind creates more terrible inages every night. Charles's comfort is rejected by the one who needs it most. Has changed to a slash story, sorry for all you slash haters. Contains some horror imagry.
1. Chapter 1

**Words: (Not counting intro) 1,097**

Charles was restless. He could sense something was wrong, but he just couldn't figure out _what. _ Someone's mind was awry, but Charles couldn't sense a specific person. There was no other way to obliterate the problem. He decided to use trial and error.

First off was Raven. Her mind was a swirling blue foam, cool and quiet as the ocean. Nothing wrong there. Hank's was all right, a little orange and prickly with frustration, but nothing seriously troubling. Alex, perhaps? No, there was a strong thrill of exhilaration emitting from his mind, and Charles dug a bit deeper (just to make sure) and found him and Hank battling aliens that had somehow managed to build a giant death ray and tie everyone else up despite not having arms (or hands, for that matter). Charles smiled and withdrew from Alex's dream, chuckling slightly as he did so. Who else was there to search? Sean? No, he was sleeping peacefully, nothing but a white noise and grey fog came from him.

Charles was confused. Who else was there? The bad feeling of _wrong _had turned into crippling fear, laced with a dash of rage and sadness. Physical elements were starting to seep out of whomever's mind it was, and Charles began to feel sharp pain in his chest. _Who was it that had this unfortunate pain locked inside them? _It wasn't Raven, not Hank, not Alex...

_Erik._

Charles gingerly searched for Erik's mind, wincing at the foreboding flashes of terror and pain, and prodded it for a moment before carefully delving in.

The pain was unimaginable. White hot knives were piercing his skin, ripping the flesh. He couldn't see past the surges of terror and rage emanating from the dream. He could make out a face from above, albeit barely. The face smiled, or at least he thought, and then released the weapon that had previously been held to his chest. Charles could see a little more clearly now, and blinked. The face changed from a blurred peach into Shaw, whose teeth were dripping blood and venom. His head cocked to the right, and out of his ear fell an inky black substance and disintegrated the floor it fell on. His back elongated and sprouted horrible, greasy wings. The Shaw creature's eyes lit on fire, and its grin widened, if that was at all possible, spreading from one ear to the other.

It turned around and pointed to another table, where Raven sat, terrified. Shaw thrust his arm through her side, ripping through her body, and she exploded into a mix of coins, blood, and terror. In her place materialized Hank. Shaw grinned before taking each of his blue legs, and ripping them off, one by one. Each limb was subsequently devoured until Hank slumped to the ground, dead, and disintegrated. Alex appeared just as quickly as Hank had gone, not looking scared at all. Shaw merely grinned before taking a blood stained hand with long, glistening claws and pushing down Alex's head until it collapsed in upon itself, the rest of the body crumpling and falling to the ground, dead. Charles- or Erik, he supposed- was screaming _No no no they don't deserve that They're like us You don't understand Oh god please stop You can kill me Just don't kill them please Stop it- _And Charles himself materialized onto the table.

Dream-Charles was naked, exposed completely and without any form of protection, unlike the other mutants that had previously been murdered. He didn't look at Erik, who was screaming at him to _Get the fuck out of here, Charles, save yourself Charles can you hear me-, _but sat, legs crossed, arms clutched around his torso, defensively. He glared at Shaw, who let out a screaming roar of rage, and hurled a massive clawed hand to his chest. Dream-Charles screamed, chest pouring blood everywhere, spreading a pool off the table, all over the floor, until a lake grew, two inches in depth, through the span of the room, of Charles's blood. The beast bent down and scooped up a handful of it, drinking the red liquid greedily. Dream-Charles shook with terror. The Shaw Creature roared again and opened his mouth to reveal two glistening fangs easily a foot long each, covered in venom. Dream-Charles tried to back away, never taking his eyes off of the creature, until it came crashing down, ripping his head from his torso, the rest of the body came crashing down, the head remained, still contorted in fear-

Charles was wrenched from the dream so suddenly his head began to hurt, behind his temples. He raised his hands to massage them, and touched beads of cold sweat. Charles sat motionless (aside from the shaking) in bed and stared at the ceiling. He tried to formulate a message in his mind, but couldn't think of a message to say that would portray his understanding of the problem without revealing his invasiveness. He eventually decided on,

_Erik? Erik, are you all right?_

A burst of electric blue fear. _Yes, I'm _-a pause, in which the bright cyan shifted into a sky blue calm, stretched thin with small torn patches that revealed fiery yellow lies- _fine._

Charles would have laughed at the pitiful attempt at a cover up if the situation hadn't been so serious. _No, my friend. You are not. _The message was laced with concern.

No reply came for quite some time, at least three minutes, as if Erik didn't know how to respond to this last statement. _Charles, I... I'm not in the mood to talk._

_Of course not, you've just had a nightmare._

_You saw? _The answer was immediate.

Charles sighed. _Yes, Erik. I did. And I'm so sorry I couldn't help you._

_Don't be. I'm used to them by now. _The voice was bitter, regretful.

_What do you mean, Erik? Surely you don't have these often?_

If humor could be perceived through thought, Charles would have received a shout of hollow laughter coming from Erik. He got the gist of it, anyway. _ Please. I get them twice a month, usually every other week. It's nothing you should trouble yourself over._

_Nothing I should- _Erik_! _Charles exclaimed.

_Strange, though, _The other man continued as if Charles hadn't said anything. _I haven't gotten one since I came here. Wonder what happened._

The fact that Erik was talking about his nightmares so _calmly _frustrated Charles, and he let out a huff. _Erik-_

_Just go to sleep, Charles. I'm fine. _The message was quick, tired, and decided. Charles gave up.

_Good night, Erik._

No reply came.


	2. Chapter 2

**Words (not counting intro): 786 (yeah, I know. Not quite as long :| Sorry.)**

xXxXx

**The Next Night**

"-and so I told her that is she was going to stuff me in a desk, it had better not be Ms. Peterson's desk because that one's full of gum, and she went _ballistic,_" Charles said, looking over at Raven.

"What a nice girl," she commented, still giggling.

"Oh, she was almost my first girlfriend," Charles remarked thoughtfully.

"Really?"

"Really. I had her all ready to say she'd go out with me, but..." He trailed off, looking sad.

"But what?"

"I couldn't do it to her. I couldn't make her do that. So I stopped making her think I was wonderful and she threatened to stuff me in a desk."

"That's..." Raven looked at a loss for words. "Charles, that is both the saddest and funniest story I've ever heard." Charles smiled.

"Yes, I know. Anyways-" he glanced at the clock on the opposite wall- "I should probably get to bed soon. Goodnight, Raven." With that, he gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and left the room.

Walking through the house to his room, he quickly checked the kids for any trouble.

_Alex, go to sleep. And don't even _think _about it. _A grumpy muttering was heard from outside the window he was passing, and Charles smiled.

_Hank, are you almost done? _

_**No.**_

_Well, when you get to a place where you can stop, go to bed. _

_**I can go without sleep for a while.**_

_No, you need it. _

_**I said no.**_

_I'm not going to argue with you. _

_**Goodnight, Professor.**_

Charles sighed, knowing that Hank wasn't really going to bed. _Goodnight, Hank._

_Sean? Go to sleep. It's past two. _

_**But professor-**_

_And take that mirror out of your room before it explodes like the last two. Don't tell me you don't know about those, because I know you do._

_**Fine.**_

And with that, Charles smiled to himself as he reached his door and entered his room. Raven (He refused to call her 'Mystique', however much she protested.) would be fine; he knew her well enough to know that. Sean, Alex, and Hank would be all right as well. But Erik...

Charles shook his head and laid down on his stomach, pillows momentarily suffocating him. He let out a long sigh, and let sleep take him.

xXxXx

-and he was here, again. In the same room. Shaw wasn't a creature in this one, or at least not yet. Charles looked around and saw that Emma was standing by the door, looking nonchalantly around. _You bitch. _

"Are you here to hurt me?" The child-Erik said, not unafraid. Charles could only stand and watch. This was different from the last dream in that he was standing to the side in this dream, and last time it had been from Erik's point of view. He wondered vaguely if Erik was experiencing the same thing. "Or are you going to make me watch them instead? Which one is it, this time?"

Shaw grinned. "Neither. You saw them die last time. Why would I make you watch a re-run?"

"So you're resorting to hurting _me_, then?"

"Not at all," Shaw said, stepping closer to Erik. "I will make you watch your friend (Charles noticed the absence of the 's') suffer, of course, but _this _time, Erik..." Shaw's eyes twinkled as he rotated to look at... "You will watch your friend, who has so _graciously _offered to step in-" Erik's face was twisted in horror and Charles was _quite _sure that Child-Erik was the equivalent of Real-Erik now- "-to take your place. _Charles, _is it?" Shaw pointed at Charles, who had only just realized he was strapped down to a board. "Yes, he'll do nicely. I _do _thank you, dear Charles, you've made everything _so _much easier." Both Erik and Charles shook. _Shit, shit, this isn't good! _Charles couldn't move his fingers to his temple; he couldn't communicate with Erik by any other means other than-

A gag was put over his mouth. _Well, then. _

"This is going to be fun, you see. Just the three of us." Emma looked up from the back of the room. "Well, four."

"What are you going to do to him?" Erik wailed.

"Don't worry, don't worry. I won't kill him. What's the fun in that? No, no, I'm going to torture him. Sounds fun, doesn't it?" Shaw's voice was reaching a higher and higher pitch, until it sounded like a thirteen year old boy's. "But if you're good, I _might _not kill him in the end..."

"You're going to kill him anyway." Erik's voice was flat. Decided.

"And are you _sure _you're willing to take that risk?" Charles shook his head, _NO! _Erik was silent. "Good. Let's begin."


	3. Chapter 3

Words: 685 (Without intro)

**I have a blog now! come check it out! it's at: mehitcouldbeworse (dot) blogspot (dot) com**

The morning was _not _comfortable. Erik woke with a start, terrified. _Fuck! _

_Charles! CHARLES! _Hoping that Charles could hear him, Erik began yelling. _CHARLES!_

_**Oww, quit shouting! You don't have to yell!**_

_Charles, why did you _do _that?_

_**I don't know what you mean, friend.**_

_Oh, you know perfectly well what I mean, Charles._

_**I assure you, Erik, I-**_

_DON'T FUCK AROUND WITH ME, CHARLES! _Erik bellowed, and Charles fell silent.

_**My friend- **_he hesitated for a moment, before continuing, choosing his words very carefully. _**I am sorry if you believe I have invaded your privacy, but I do not regret my actions. You are in pain, Erik. Don't pretend you don't know it. **_

There was a silence while he waited and Erik processed what Charles had said.

_That's what you think I'm angry about? That you 'invaded my privacy'? Charles, do you remember what he _did _to you? How he made you suffer? Charles, I'm mad that you're hurting _yourself._ Because of _me.

Charles and Erik were both silent for a while. Then-

_**I do not regret what I have done for you, Erik. Had I not been there, those terrible things would have happened to **_**you. **

_But you _were _there, and I had to _watch _you be tortured. I'd rather have been in your position than in the one I was forced to be in. I do not want to watch you suffer. Ever._

_Shit! _Came the next message from Erik, and Charles wasn't sure if it was intended to be heard. _What did I just do? Now he'll know! _Definitely not supposed to be heard. _Fuck, what if he figures it out? What am I supposed to say if he asks me? _Ask him what? _Fuck, he's going to throw me out now, isn't he? Great. Now I have to pack._

_**...Erik? **_Charles asked worriedly.

_What? _Erik snapped back. _I'm packing, go away. _

_**Why are you packing?**_

_Why do you _think_? I'm leaving._

_**Why?**_

_... I'd rather not say. You wouldn't understand._

_**Yes I would!**_

_Trust me. You wouldn't._

_**Erik, don't do this!**_

_Why shouldn't I?_

_**Think of everyone else! Sean, Alex, Raven, **_**ME! **_**We'd all miss you! Don't leave! I don't even know why you left! What am I supposed to say to everyone else?**_

_Not my problem._

_**Don't make me force you to stay.**_

_...you wouldn't._

_**I would, and I will, if you don't stop acting like a child, Erik. If you **_**must **_**leave, at least explain yourself first.**_

Charles waited for a response, but he didn't get one. He sighed. What was Erik hiding? Charles replayed the part of the conversation.

_'I do not want to watch you suffer. Ever. Shit! What did I just do? Now he'll know! Fuck, what if he figures it out? What am I supposed to say if he asks me?'_

What was _that _all about? What did Erik say that made him want to leave? '_Now he'll know'. _Know what? That Erik cared about him? That much he already knew. Charles was the only friend Erik ever had, aside from his mother, or at least he'd never given anyone reason to believe he'd had another friend. Was Erik really so afraid to admit that Charles was his best friend here at the mansion? What about the other kids? Come to think about it, they'd been acting strangely as well. Hank always seemed to have an excuse to leave the room as soon as the two men were present. Raven always flashed Charles a knowing smile, looking smug. Charles had overheard a conversation once between Alex and Sean.

_"So you're saying they're finally-" _

_"Shh! They might hear you! No, not yet. But they will be soon with any luck." _

_"Ugh, I hope they do it soon. The tension is _killing _me."_

_"...You knew before?"_

_"Please. Everyone knows. Even Moria. Although she's not too happy with it."_

_"Why not?"_

_"She wanted Charles."_

_"Ah... That makes sense."_

Tension? What tension? There wasn't any tension between him and Erik. Well, except for the newly created tension about Erik's nightmares, but still. What could be-

Oh.

_Oh._

_Shit._


End file.
